.jpg) Week of July 13th to July 19 July 13, 1787 - - Congress enacted the Northwest Ordinance establishing formal procedures for transforming territories into states. It provided for the eventual establishment of three to five states in the area north of the Ohio River, to be considered equal with the original 13. The Ordinance included a Bill of Rights that guaranteed freedom of religion, the right to trial by jury, public education and a ban on slavery in the Northwest. July 14, 1791 - - In England, the Birmingham riot occurred on the second anniversary of the fall of the Bastille. Mob rule lasted for three days, targeting controversial scientist and theologian Joseph Priestley's home and laboratory as well as the homes of his friends. Priestly, who had expressed support for the American and French revolutions, fled to London with his family and later moved to America. July 15, 1918 - - During the Battle of the Marne in World War I, German General Erich Ludendorff launched Germany's fifth, and last, offensive to break through the Chateau-Thierry salient. However, the Germans were stopped by American, British and Italian divisions. On July 18, General Foch, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied troops, launched a massive counter-offensive. The Germans began a retreat lasting four months until they requested an armistice in November. July 16, 1945 - - The experimental Atomic bomb "Fat Boy" was set off at 5:30 a.m. in the desert of New Mexico desert, creating a mushroom cloud rising 41,000 feet. The bomb emitted heat three times the temperature of the interior of the sun and wiped out all plant and animal life within a mile. July 17, 1996 - - TWA Flight 800 departed Kennedy International Airport in New York bound for Paris, but exploded in mid-air 12 minutes after takeoff, apparently the result of a mechanical failure. The Boeing 747 jet crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Long Island about 8:45 p.m.. All 212 passengers and 17 crew members on board were killed. July 18, 1947 - - President Harry Truman signed an Executive Order determining the line of successive if the president becomes incapacitated or dies in office. Following the vice-president, the speaker of the house and president of the Senate are next in succession. This became the 25th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ratified on February 10, 1967. July 19, 1863 - - During the American Civil War, Union troops made a second attempt to capture Fort Wagner near Charleston, South Carolina. The attack was led by the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry, commanded by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, who was killed along with half of the 600 men in the regiment. This battle marked the first use of black Union troops in the war.
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"My Final Thoughts! A few Thoughts from the Realm of Reality"